With Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius, explore one of the world's most important philosophical texts. Filled with rich historical context, detailed close readings of key passages, and stories of Confucius and his students (and critics), these 24 lectures are required learning for anyone who wants a solid grasp of Eastern philosophy-and the ways a single book can cross cultures to inspire an entire world.
Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius
Join a renowned educator on an adventurous exploration of one of the world's most important philosophical texts.
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Veronique from
Interesting introduction
Like the writing of Confucius: a bit confusing in part but eventually comes together nicely. Good to get perspective from a scholar that has spent time in China and Taiwan and seem to deeply understand the language as well as the culture.
Date published: 2024-07-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DLKHudson River Valley from
Especially Enthusiastic Instructor
I've taken a few courses, have learned so much and have had a nice sampling of instructors. LaFleur's enthusiasm for the content and personal recollections of his experiences stand out. Aside from the professor, I greatly enjoyed the production values and use of illustrations and other graphics; this made the course much more dynamic than an instructor simply standing at a lectern.
Date published: 2024-03-27
Rated 2 out of
5
by
SangZe from
A real bore
I expected a study of Confucius. Instead, I found the "professor" is apparently devoted to attacking other thinkers, especially academic minds. The presentations thus far are little more than commercials for the speaker. Bah. I have wasted my money.
Date published: 2022-11-16
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jdahlem from
Great Course
I really like the flexibility of this course. The audio is very clear spoken by Robert Andre LeFleur.
The course guide helped a lot to read it slowly after the audio. I noticed that I need a lot of time to absorb the teaching material. I also have some difficulty with certain questions.
Overall I enjoyed the course. Now I am more aware articles in newspapers about businesses telling that they learned a lot from Confucius. On the other side I learned that young Asian people who moved to a new country have difficulty to abandon their parents or because they are so busy they don't have time to care for their parents which give them a guilty feeling.
Date published: 2021-11-02
Rated 4 out of
5
by
24ONR from
Strong survey
Certainly a valuable introduction to Confucius and his followers. At times, LaFleur displays almost too much fondness for Confucius; I think he should have adopted a more moderate tone. Found him stronger when discussing the followers of Confucius.
Date published: 2021-08-12
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Michael 52 from
Impressive production
This professor makes the ancient philosopher fresh and relevant for today, East or West. He invited you to think along with him so you learn how to grapple with the text for yourself. Of course, the professor leads the way and he brings a wealth of learning and enthusiasm to the course. One might expect a course on Confucius to be slow and stodgy, but this production is bursting with excitement. I'm extremely happy with this course.
Date published: 2021-07-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
jimski from
Classic Great Courses hidden gold.
I am now only five lectures into this 24 lecture course, but have already experienced the hidden wonder that I've seen in other Great Courses courses. That is: if you are paying attention, and thinking synthetically about the content that is being taught, something much greater and more significant emerges than anything in the content of the material or than anything you thought you were signing up for when you bought the course. In this case, the nominal content is The Analects of Confucius, but available to the thoughtful watcher is the hidden and enormously meaningful value of cultural difference. "It changes everything." Items: (1) You can never be sure of anything, gleaned from Prof. LaFleur's teaching about the variability of the text. (2) Our Western way of thinking, which we never even think of as arbitrary, is in fact only one way and is irrelevant to the point of meaninglessness in other cultural contexts. What are the implications of this for our assured ways of going about life? (3) The foregoing uncertainty dissolves the assumed bulletproof reputations and unquestioned wisdom of major thinkers, major books, or indeed any monolithic content in human society, leaving the making sense of life entirely up to the individual. These are profoundly meaningful recognitions, which I have received from other Great Courses as well. (The course on Myth? The various myths taught shrunk in the face of realizing that we today are living under our own myths identically to those "ancient" myths that we now cast off as primitive.) It's like buying a glass ornament only to find it is in fact diamond. I may add to this review upon finishing the course, but at the moment can't imagine anything more important than the observations from it to this point. But I must comment very favorably on Prof. LaFleur's lecture style.
Date published: 2021-02-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Herb F from
Great Presentation
Thoroughly enjoyed the course. And the professor taught it with passion.
Date published: 2021-02-03
Overview
About
Professor Robert Andre LaFleur is Professor of History and Anthropology at Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he has taught since 1998. He received his doctorate from The University of Chicago's John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, where he combined work in anthropology, history, and Chinese literature. Professor LaFleur received the Charles S. Bassett Teaching Award from Colby College, as well as the James R. Underkofler Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from Beloit College. He is the recipient of a Millicent C. McIntosh Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and has been a frequent visiting scholar with the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research in the Humanities and the East-West Center in Honolulu. In 2013, Professor LaFleur gave a series of lectures and seminars at Beijing University. Professor LaFleur is the lead author and editor of two textbooks: China: A Global Studies Handbook and Asia in Focus: China. He has published book chapters, articles, and research papers about topics ranging from Chinese historiography, literature, ethnicity, and mythology to the history and anthropology of Oceania. Professor LaFleur's current work combines historical research using Chinese, Japanese, and Korean sources with anthropological fieldwork on each of China's five sacred mountains.
Trailer
01: The Hidden Teaching Dynamic of the Analects
Before diving into the mysteries of the Analects, it's essential to get a broader view of Confucius and his style of teaching. Here, examine how the text's performative nature holds its diverse teachings together, and explore Confucius's mission to return China to a more harmonious era in its history....
30 min
02: The Analects: A Bird's-Eye View
The Analects, according to Professor LaFleur, shouldn't just be read. It should be lived. Learn how to enter the book's world by considering Confucius's imaginative ideas about living in society. Also, practice your ability to navigate through the book's tangle of questions and answers, assertions and observations, and challenges and retorts....
28 min
03: The Man We Call Confucius
Who was Confucius? How did he manage to become one of the most important figures in world history? Get the full backstory on what historians know about the man called Confucius, including the opinions of thinkers like Mencius and Xunzi, and several illuminating passages from Chapter 10 of the Analects....
32 min
04: How the Analects Is Organized
The structure of the Analects offers a helpful way in which to approach and understand the text's deeper meanings. Break down Confucius's book into its "chapters" (juan), the scattered nature of its tiny nuggets of knowledge ("analects"), and the generations of historical commentary winding among these approximately 500 individual sayings....
30 min
05: The Provenance of the Analects
Archaeological discoveries were key to transforming scholarly understanding of early Chinese texts. In this lecture with the feel of a detective story, unearth the oldest version of the Analects (bamboo fragments found in a tomb in north-central China) and discover why there's no one single version of this world classic....
30 min
06: The Analects in Miniature
For those readers who've never encountered the Analects before, there's no better way to approach it than through its first five statements-which contain an entire world of philosophical knowledge. Join Professor LaFleur as he unpacks core themes in these iconic passages, including individual conduct and effective statesmanship....
29 min
07: Learning to Read the Analects
While there are no absolute rules for reading the Analects, there are ways to enhance your understanding of its complexities. Tips you'll learn in this helpful lecture include: focus on the early chapters (more likely to be composed soon after Confucius's death) and-paradoxically-acknowledge what the book cannot teach you....
30 min
08: Confucius's Students: Zai Wo and Yan Hui
Meet two of the most important and memorable students featured in the Analects. The first is Zai Wo, a devoted (but prickly) student who functions as a sort of trickster character. The second is Yan Hui, Confucius's favorite student and the model for what the thinker valued in his students....
29 min
09: Confucius's Students: Zilu and Zigong
In this lecture, meet two more students who accompanied Confucius on his journey of enlightenment: the difficult (and often criticized) Zilu and the mistake-prone (but fiercely loyal) Zigong. Both students, as you'll learn, are surprisingly nuanced followers, and they both experience a powerful intellectual evolution as the Analects progresses....
31 min
10: Confucius on the Purpose of Learning
What was the point of gaining knowledge, according to Confucius? Professor LaFleur reveals the answer in this pointed discussion on putting the teachings in the Analects into practice. In a close reading of several passages, you'll get to the heart of how Confucius's teachings relate to the wider world....
31 min
11: Filial Devotion in the Analects
Begin investigating several of the core concepts in the Analects that would go on to define Confucian thought in Chinese history. The first of these concepts: "filial devotion" (xiao), which is a practical and symbolic way of creating an orderly society at home and in the world at large....
32 min
12: Confucius on the Value of Remonstrance
The idea of remonstrance (the duty of a child to "correct" the actions of an adult) lies at the heart of hierarchical Chinese society and politics. How is the concept critiqued in the Analects? How does it protect families and states from ruin? What are some of its potential dangers?...
29 min
13: The Exemplary Person in the Analects
How does the Analects define an exemplary person? Find out by examining a series of key concepts that work together to shape a "whole person" who can properly function as a social and political being. Among these are loyalty (zhong), sincerity (cheng), trust (xin), and virtue (de)....
30 min
14: Confucius's Ideal: Consummate Conduct
Explore the highest (and most difficult) of Confucian skills: consummate conduct (ren). Along the way, you'll learn how this concept has dominated 25 centuries of Chinese history, how it reveals the true depths of Confucius's teachings, and why it's not just a lifestyle-but a matter of life and death....
29 min
15: Confucius on Cultivating the Social Self
Continue unpacking the concept of consummate conduct by breaking it down into smaller social and moral skills that should always be properly cultivated. As Professor LaFleur reveals, consummate conduct is more than an individual quality; it's profoundly social to its core, tying together family, community, and even the state itself....
29 min
16: Ritual Conduct in the Analects
Ritual lies at the heart of the Analects, and is perhaps one of Confucius's biggest action items. Here, delve into the idea of ritual propriety (li), which requires an individual to acknowledge both cosmological concepts and minute details. Ritual, as you'll discover, is so much more than just stuffy rule-following....
30 min
17: Confucius on Embodied Ritual and Music
In this second lecture on Confucian ideas of ritual, learn why, in the Analects, ritual is tightly interlinked with the body-so that ritual becomes not just prescriptions but performative actions. Also, learn how Confucius links ritual with music, so that both reflect the height of human emotion and community....
30 min
18: The Analects on Effective Rule
In Confucian learning, the greatest challenge is the act of governing. How are we supposed to rule ourselves, our families, and our communities-all under the authority of heaven? Using pointed examples from the Analects, examine Confucian ideas about proper leadership, the importance of advisors, and the need for constant self-correction....
28 min
19: Mencius: The Next Confucian Sage
Who took up the mantle after the death of Confucius? Professor LaFleur introduces you to Mencius, whose collected writings are both a spirited defense and significant expansion of the Analects. Filled with long narratives that read like dramatic performances, his Mencius hammered home the idea that people are inherently good....
30 min
20: Confucius's Daoist and Legalist Critics
The ideas espoused in the Analects had their share of critics. Here, take a look at some of the most prominent of these, including Xunzi, who felt that humans were born flawed; Daoist critics like Zhuangzi; and the Legalist philosopher Han Fei, who considered Confucius to be a fuzzy-minded dilettante....
28 min
21: State Confucianism and Buddhism
In the first half of this lecture, consider how Confucianism moved into the seat of power in China during the four centuries of the Han dynasty and evolved in two very different directions. Then, explore how this new form of "State Confucianism" blended with other Eastern belief systems-especially Buddhism....
30 min
22: Sima Guang and the Confucian Revival
View the life and works of the Chinese historian Sima Guang as a window into neo-Confucianism: the revived form of Confucianism that emerged in the 11th century. You'll learn how this historian took the lessons of the Analects and adapted them to fit new social, economic, and political complexities....
31 min
23: Neo-Confucianism and the Political Order
Go deeper inside the ways neo-Confucianism reshaped the foundations of Chinese education and government. Topics include Ouyang Xiu's essay, "On Fundamentals", which celebrated Confucian principles; Zhu Xi's reorganization of Confucian education into the "Four Books" model; and the importance (and misery) of civil service examinations....
31 min
24: Confucius's Comeback in a Global World
Conclude the course with a look at Confucian thought in the modern age. How did the West influence internal Chinese affairs (already on the point of collapse before Westerners arrived)? Why were the Analects pilloried during Mao's "Cultural Revolution"? How did Confucius once again become the voice of China?...
32 min
